Braking devices for roller skates are well known and are used to slow or stop the skater. Conventional skate braking devices typically consist of a resilient material, such as a rubber pad, which is fixedly attached to either the front or rear of the skate or skate frame. When the user wishes to brake, slow, or stop, the user typically pivots the skate about its front or rear wheels and drags this high friction resilient material along the ground. This is typically very difficult to maneuver and likely requires the skater to delicately balance on one skate while trying to drive the brake on the other skate into the ground.
Other braking devices include rotating brakes, which typically consists of a cuff, one or more compression or bending members, and a brake pad. The cuff, sometimes called a quarter, which is typically attached to the skate boot, is coupled to one end of the bending or compression member. The brake pad, which inhibits a skater's movement upon contact, is typically connected to the other end of the compression member. The compression member is also further movably connected around a hinge, such that, as the user moves his calf rearward or backwards, the compression member pivots, causing the brake pad to contact one or more surfaces.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,487,552, issued to Daoust discloses a skate braking device that utilizes a cuff, two L-shaped levers or compression members, and a brake pad. The upper ends of the levers are connected to the cuff and the lower ends of the levers are connected to the brake pad. Each lever has two arms, which are pivotally connected to the chassis of the skate; wherein the upward portions of the arms extend upwardly in general alignment with the skater's leg and the rearward portions of the arms extends rearwardly from the chassis. As the skater moves the cuff rearwardly, the rearward rotation causes a rearward movement on the upper distal ends, thereby moving the brake pad downwardly. The arms are subject to significant bending loads.
Another example of a skate braking device that utilizes a cuff and one or more compression members is U.S. Pat. No. 5,397,137, issued to Pellegrini et. al. The Pellegrini reference discloses a skate braking device, which includes a shoe comprised of a shell for supporting a user's foot; a fixed and pivoted quarter (sometimes called a cuff) for supporting a user's ankle region and transferring braking force into a compression member; support frame for one or more wheels; and one compression member. The compression member is rotatably associated with the quarter and is associated with a guide formed near the support frame. As the user moves the quarter rotatably backwards, the compression member causes the brake pad to rotate so that it interacts with the ground, thereby activating the brake upon movement of the boot quarter, or cuff via the skater's ankle.
While these references include a compression, or a bending member and require a hinged cuff to activate, that inhibits a user's rolling motion when the user moves his calf muscles rearward/backward, these skate braking devices are ineffective and/or inefficient because the stiff and relatively “fixed” boot cuff, which is required for the Pelligrini brake to activate, resists efficient ankle movement, which is key to efficient skating. Both designs lacks the efficiency of a tension member that constrains a user's braking movements upon force applied to the compression member. The new design effectively separates the skating mechanics from the braking mechanics, and only serves to translate rearward movement of the skater's leg or calf into downward movement of the compression member, but otherwise does not constrain the skater's ankle in any way. The new design can be used with a “racing” style low-cut boot with no decrease in braking forces generated. The Pelligrini brake design will only work with a boot with a cuff, and neither design is interchangeable between skates of differing geometries. The new design provides all of the advantages of the prior art, i.e., calf activation while maintaining all wheels in contact with the skating surface (as opposed to traditional “fixed” heel braking, which requires the skater to perform a very awkward motion by pivoting the braking skate onto the back wheel and the brake pad while balancing on the other foot and skate). These devices are also nonadjustable and lack the ability to be customized or interchangeable on different skates a skater may own, which prevent users of skates to swap the brake between skates. This is particularly troublesome for users who skate in rough environments (i.e., a sleeper slope) because such users may need to readjust their brake assemblies for quicker and stronger responses, and as the brake pad wears down. In addition, during times when a skater wishes to skate very efficiently and has no need for braking (for instance, a long flat section with no hazards), these brakes create two problems: (1) a longer total “wheelbase” (fore and aft length from the front of the front wheel to the back of the brake) which inhibits the skater's ability to perform a “crossover” skating stroke for speed and/or cornering, and (2) there is a very heavy brake pad, usually a dense and heavy rubber or polymer, that is far from the skater's ankle and therefore a mass (“swing weight”) that must be overcome by additional energy from the skater.
Therefore, what is needed is a skate braking device that is activated by the user's calf muscles via a compression member that is restrained and guided by a flexible cord; wherein the flexible cord is further restrained by the skating shoe or boot. Preferably, the skate braking device is adjustable and customizable, such that the brake may fit any combination of boot, frame, wheel size, or skater size. Further, a brake is needed that can be easily reconfigured over the duration of a skate that may involve differing braking needs, including a “stowed” position wherein the brake can be put in a position that has lower “swing weight” (i.e., closer to the skater's ankle) and a shorter total wheelbase (fore and aft length).